Forerunner of the Necessary Defense of Noble Evangelical Persons

only piecemeal / and moreover riddled with false, fabricated, defamatory, and sophistical interpretations original: "glossis" / through which the true intentions and opinions of those who communicated with one another in good faith and confidence are distorted. What was conceived in a foreign language is wrongly translated The original German "vertirt" refers to the translation or conversion of texts, implying the Imperial editors deliberately mistranslated foreign correspondence to make it sound more treasonous.; what individual persons perhaps discussed for themselves, or only mentioned as a suggestion / is immediately and quite hatefully original: "odiosè" imputed to an entire body and union as if they were common decrees and resolutions. All sensible, impartial people can easily judge this. And what kind of practice is this / when perhaps the best part / upon which the rest could be saved / is either completely omitted / or struck through with an "etc."? I will say nothing for now / of the countless gross errors / mistakes / falsehoods / lies original: "mendacia" and slanders original: "calumnias" / which partly refute themselves, and partly will yet be discovered in time / so that oppressed innocence / with God and honor / shall be rescued.

For whoever considers the foundation / as mentioned above / will find nothing in the accused other than an upright zeal / to maintain the Empire of the German Nation The Holy Roman Empire. / in its constitution / ancient rightful form / and fundamental laws. But especially to maintain the harmony sanctioned by both the sworn capitulations The Capitualtio Caesarea, or the legal contracts the Emperor was forced to sign upon his election to limit his power. and pacts original: "pacta" between the Head The Emperor. and the Members The Imperial Estates and Princes.. Furthermore, to maintain that liberty and freedom / so dearly acquired with the life and blood of the praiseworthy ancestors / the German-born Electors and Princes / and alongside this, to prevent the Papal power and the Spanish yoke A common Protestant rhetorical device referring to the fear of the Spanish Habsburgs’ military dominance and the Counter-Reformation’s religious influence. from [ruling] over the free German Na-